


The Queen's Knights

by RickylFan1000



Category: Charmed (TV), Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M, Melinda is Prue's daughter, New kid names for the Charmed Ones children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-09-06 14:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8755987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RickylFan1000/pseuds/RickylFan1000
Summary: Melinda aunts always told her that when one door closes another one opens, she always believed in them. But, now, it’s time to experience it. Can she find happiness? Can she let go of the past? Or will it consume her?





	1. Brave New World

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Only the OC are mine, all the others I have no claim over them!  
> Beta: None yet. Anyone wants to fill in the job? PLEASEEE?  
>  **Spells**. 'Thoughts'. “Normal talk”.  
>  Sorry for mistakes, I’m not American neither am I from a country that speaks English as first language.  
> Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please read and REVIEW!!!!!

The sun rise, a new day, a fresh start, that’s what Melinda always thought. However, lately, that was not what had been happening. At the age of 17, the witch-lighter had faced more than most. When her best friend, brother from another mother, died a week ago, the blue-eyed witch had entered a severe depression. She had allowed him inside her heart, and now, she was suffering.

  
Like the nights before, Melinda had barely slept, thanks to the nightmares. So now, the 17 year old was looking out the window, watching the sun rise above San Francisco.  
About an hour later there was a knock at her door, ‘Right on schedule.’, like every morning her Uncle Leo would knock on her door, peek inside and tell her breakfast was ready. “Melinda, breakfast is ready.” When he did not receive an answer, as always, he left. And, as usual, he left the door opened.

  
In the begin of the week, her aunt Phoebe had tried to explain to everyone what she was felling, being a psychologist and empath. They didn’t understand much, and Melinda didn’t care. What she did now, most likely Eric told her, his adoptive mother was depressed, was that there were good days and bad days, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

  
Today, it seemed it was a good day for Melinda. Instead of using her telekinesis to close the door, she got up. She didn’t stop to look in the mirror, she could imagine what she looked like, a week in bed, barely eating and sleeping, only leaving to go to the bathroom.

  
She fond her family seating in the kitchen, when they saw her they all stopped. Her aunt was the first to recover. “Melinda, sit, there’s pancakes, bacon and eggs. What do you want?” Her aunt gestured to the empty chair between her uncle and her cousin Victor. Aunt Piper always had strict rules in her kitchen, she may be their cook, but she was not their waiter, so Melinda knew that her the eldest Charmed One was cutting her some slack. Instead of sitting, she took her plate and went to wait by the isle. “P...” Her voice didn’t work, ‘What do you expect, a week without muttering a word.’, so she took a bottle of water from the fridge and drank half before trying again “Pancake and egg, please.”  
Her aunt beamed at her before she started working on her food. She turned towards her cousins, the seemed to be over their initial shock and had returned to eating. None of them were looking at her. She wanted to blame them, to be angry at them, after all it seemed easier, and she had, for a little while. When Wyatt had come talk to her, two days after Eric’s death, she had used her telekinesis to throw most of the stuff in her bedroom at him. After that day, none of them had tried again.

  
“I don’t blame you guys.” They froze, again. “I did, at first. But not anymore.” She wasn’t really in the mood to talk, so she waited for them to say something. And she waited, it seemed that they had really frozen this time. Wyatt was the first to recover, and when he did he walked around the table and approached her. He was hesitant, and Melinda didn’t blame him. He waited for her to start using her powers on him, and when that didn’t happen he got closer. She didn’t expect the hug, but welcomed it.

  
“I’m sorry. We all are.” Wyatt whispered at her ear. “Mels, you stink!” Of course, he had to break the moment. Melinda, wasn’t expecting the chuckle that came out of her, but in the end it was a good surprise.

  
“Wyatt!” Both his parents reprimanded him.

  
“What? It’s nothing but the truth!” Instead of scolding him again, Piper pointed towards his seat. By the looks at her face, she was not happy. But he didn’t allow that to change his mood, with a smile he went back to his seat and restarted eating. A couple of minutes later the only witch in the room handed the eldest witch-lighter her plate.

  
While Melinda was still eating, her cousins left to finish getting ready for school, aunt Piper had to leave early because of a problem at the restaurant, leaving her alone with her uncle.

  
In the end, she only ate half of the pancake and a quarter of the egg, she knew that it wasn’t healthy, but she couldn’t eat anymore. When she was done, the ex-whitelighter took her plate to the sink. While he started doing the dishes Melinda got up and put the rest of the stuff in the fridge, once she was done she joined him at the sink and started to dry the dishes.

  
Not once did he try to speak to her, he allowed her her space, he would wait until she came to him, like the patient man he has always been.

  
The silence between them was broken by the three sets of footprints coming down the stairs. “Mom, we are ready!” Chris called. Leo left the kitchen.

  
“She already left, boys. Today I’ll be the one taking you three to school.” Melinda heard her uncle answer. By the time she got to the living room her uncle was the only one still in the house, he turned towards her and waved goodbye. And she waved back. Alone in the house, she thought about laying back in her bed, but she couldn’t, she knew if she did that it would be another week, at least, for her to get up. So she went to the bathroom and took a well needed bath.

  
After the shower, she went back to her bedroom, now it was time to figure out what to wear. As much as she wanted to just put on some sweat pants, she couldn’t, Eric would kill her if she put sweats if it wasn’t to train. So she ended up deciding on her favorite leather black pants, a simple turtle neck top, and her mothers leather jacket (AN: I know Prue’s leather jacket was simple, however I chose to upgrade it a bit, check out her clothes at Polyvore, my profile has the link.). To finish the outfit she put on, she choose a black-chocolate brown ankle booties.

  
While she was drying her hair, her uncle returned. He stopped by her open door, like before, just waiting.

  
“He wouldn’t want me to keep on like that.” She muttered, the witch-lighter wasn’t sure her uncle had heard her. She thought he didn’t.

  
“Okay, I’m proud of you.” His answer took a while to come, and when it did she was surprised.

  
By the time she turned around he was gone, well he was most likely at the garage, working on his precious car.

  
Once she was done wit her hair, her desire to go lay in the bed got even bigger. It appeared that she got worst when there was nothing to do. As much as she wanted to listen to her desire, she didn’t. Eric wouldn’t want her to, he would want her to live, to be happy, to find something worth living for. Like she had said to Leo. He didn’t get a chance to live anymore, so now she had to live for him, she would have to do all he ever wanted to do, all he ever dreamed of doing. It would be hard, everywhere she went, she would remember him, it was going to be hard to fight the desire every single second of every day. But she would try, she had to, for him. Until she found something worth living for, she would live for him.

  
She went to the attic, it was the only thing she could think of to keep herself busy.

  
After hours of simply cleaning, rearranging, cataloging and making potions her aunts orbed in. They didn’t not look happy.

  
“Hey, Mels.” Phoebe was the first to speak. It seemed like Leo had told them that she had officially left the bedroom, because they didn’t seem surprised that she was at the attic. With a small nod, the witch-lighter acknowledged them. She knew it was serious what they wanted to talk to her about, they wouldn’t have all showed up if it wasn’t. She finished bottling her potion before turning her full attention to them. “Way don’t we sit down, we have something to tell you.”

  
Paige lead her to the couch, were the two eldest sat on her right and the youngest Charmed One on her left.

  
“The Elders called me earlier this morning. They wanted me to tell you about your new charge.” They waited for a reaction from the teenager but nothing came, so Paige continued. “Her name is Renesmee, she was born three days ago. They didn’t not tell me why she needs protection.”

  
“Why me?” The witch-lighter whispered, if Phoebe wasn’t paying attention she would have missed it, being the farthest away.

  
“I don’t know, honey. I tried to convince them to give her to someone else, but they said only you could do the job. I’m sorry.”

  
“What are you sorry for, aunt Paige? You tried didn’t you?” They were not excepting this reaction from Melinda.

  
“Yeah, honey, of course I tried. There’s more. They want you to live with the family while you look after her, at least at the begging.”

  
“Oh.” Melinda stared at the other side of the attic, her aunts around her were at a loss, so they just allowed her to be, for now. ‘A new day, a fresh start. Eric wouldn’t want me to live like this. Maybe getting out of here is the best thing, everything in this house reminds me of him, imagine at school, or Magic School. I wouldn’t go a day without thinking of him. I can’t stay here, that is all I know.’ “I’ll do it.”

  
“Melinda, are you sure? You can always say ‘no’. We will talk to the Elders, tell them they have to find someone else.” Piper tried to persuade her, the three sisters didn’t believe the best thing for the young one was to be sent to another place, considering she had just left her bed.

  
“I have to. Not because of those asses, but because I can’t live like this anymore, he wouldn’t want me to. And I can’t stay here, it hurts to much, the pull is to big. I have to go, somewhere he has never been. As much as I don’t want to, he would like me to, so I’m going to do it, for him.” At the end of her speech the Charmed Ones had tears in their eyes. They were proud of her. Ever since the day Prue died, they had taken the responsibility of raising their niece, knowing what the future once had in store for her, it was scary. But now, here she was, making them proud.

  
“Okay, Phoebe and Paige will help you pack, while I make us some lunch. Anything you want, sweety?” Piper asked, it would be Melinda’s last meal here at the manor, she would make sure it was perfect.

  
“Lasagna, please.” Was the reply, ‘Of course, why did I even ask.’ Piper thought.

  
The four of them left the attic, Piper kept going down, while Phoebe, Paige and Melinda stopped at the second floor. The youngest Charmed One took two bags from Piper and Leo’s closet, while the middle one started to help the witch-lighter. They packed a lot of winter stuff, since the season was coming and they knew Melinda was going north. They didn’t know exactly where. With the three of them doing the job, it only took them an hour. By the time they got down stairs the table was set, instead of just five places there were seven, which meant Coop and Henry were joining them. They left her bags behind the couch. The two youngest Charmed Ones left to join Piper in the kitchen, leaving Melinda alone with Leo, again. Before he could utter a word to her, she hugged him. The force almost put him to the ground.

  
“Thank you, Uncle Leo.” She whispered in his chest. She knew he had understood him, because his arms tightened even more around her. She didn’t have to say why she was thanking him, he knew.

  
They only separated when Coop and Henry beamed in the dinning room. “Hey, Mels.” They both grated her at the same time. It seemed they were called, because seconds later Piper, Phoebe and Paige each came in holding a tray of food. “Move you two, hot plates coming threw.” The eldest was not happy with the two new comers standing in her way, she after all had the lasagna in her hands, and it was hot, even with the oven mitts. They both gave her apologetic looks before each giving their wives a kiss. “Alright, lunch is served.”

  
“Prue always dreamed of giving her daughter the name Patricia, but when you were born, she changed, she wanted to give you a name that represented power, that inspired you, so she named you after our ancestral, a noble, selfless, kind, bright and powerful witch. And you have shown us that you are just like her, plus your mothers stubbornness. We are all s So I propose a toast, to Melinda. May the spirits guide your new adventure, and may you find happiness, God knows, you deserve it.” Phoebe raised her glass, and soon everyone in the table followed. “To Melinda!” they all chanted before taking a sip.

  
Lunch was a quiet but happy affair. By the time they were done it was time for Melinda to leave. She knew she had to. Everyone got up. They each hugged Melinda, squishing as hard as they could.

  
They formed a half circle around her bags and her, with one finale smile and wave, she picked up her bags and allowed the pull she was feeling towards her charge lead her orb.

**\- TQK -**

“kind of a mouthful and -” It was the first thing Melinda heard when she arrived. It seemed like Renesmee had lead her to what looked like a backyard. Most of the people there turned to look at her. But before anyone could react they all heard a screech.

  
“You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster?” The woman, who was already crouching, lunged. Melinda didn’t think twice, she raised her shield around the boy, or man, she couldn’t tell by his height. The purple ball raised just in time. The woman, now Melinda could see that most of them were vampires, ricocheted, but landed on her feet. Both her and the man looked at the shield with curiosity, while the rest of the crowd stared at Melinda.

  
“Hi.” She witch-lighter could imagine how weird this scene was, first she appeared in blue orbs, now she stood there with her hands raised, as if she was trying to reach something. When none answered she turned to the attacker. “Can I put the shield down? Or are you going to attack him again?”

  
This time she received a nod as an answer, hoping that is meant ‘yes’ for her first question, she lowered her shield and, consequently, lowered her arms. “Introductions: My name is Melinda Halliwell.” They still didn’t answer her, a few seemed to be analyzing her, ready do declare her dangerous if needed. “Okay, I’m guessing she’s Renesmee?” Melinda pointed at the baby, in the blond female vampire arms. It appeared to be the wrong question to ask, because the moment she was done talking, they all closed in on the baby, a few even crouched, the woman to the front, and the man turned into a wolf. The two wolves, that before were near the tree line were now behind her, ready to attack if needed. And the other wolf was at her right. If they wanted they could surround her easily, after all she was outnumbered.

  
“How do you know her name?” A blond male vampire asked, he seemed the leader of their coven.

  
“I was told. Look, I’m half witch, half whitelighter. I have charges, people I’m supposed to look after, guide, protect. The Elders gave me Renesmee, well they ordered me. The point is, I’m here to protect her.” It seemed they didn’t know anything about witches and whitelighters, which made Melinda’s job, to convince them she meant no harm, even harder. “You guys have a telepath and an empath in your group, I can’t tell which one is which because you guys are too close together, doesn’t matter. Use your powers, you’ll see I mean no harm!”

  
That seemed to do the trick, at least partly, four of them stood taller, the male vampire that had spoke, two other males and a female. Even though they stood, they were all still locked in position, if the order was giving, they would attack. Melinda heard more growls coming behind her, seven new wolves showed up. The biggest one was entirely black, she was a bit smaller to the one in Melinda’s right. Coming at her left, the new wolves surrounded her. There was one that called her attention, he was slicker than the rest, his fur was gray with black spots, one directly on his nose. It seemed like the moment he looked at her eyes everything changed. Instead of staying in the line, like the others, he took a few steps forward.

  
Melinda learned at a very young age to control her telepathy, she knew people didn’t like her reading their minds, so she tried to avoid it, like now. But she couldn’t ignore the screams ‘IMPRINT’ she was hearing. “What’s an Imprint?” As much as she liked to pride herself as a very studious person, she couldn’t remember ever reading said word in the werewolves books. The wolf got even closer to her. The one at her right was growling, really loudly now.

  
“Edward?” Melinda looked at the blond male vampire, it didn’t make any sense what was happening right now. The only thing she did know was that she didn’t have to protect herself from the wolf, now standing right beside her.

  
“Embry has imprinted.” The one with the bronze hair answered. It still did not answer Melinda’s question, but it seemed she now at least knew the name of the wolf beside her. The growling got even louder by her right, and immediately the gray wolf started to growl back. It scared her a bit, the size of their teethes, but something told her that if she moved it would only make things worse. “Her mind shows no harm. It actually shows me the opposite, in case of a fight between Embry and Jacob she would be willing to protect Renesmee.” it seemed that got the people and wolves a bit more relaxed.

  
“Her emotions show the same, the protectiveness she fells is enormous.” The one to say that had blond curly hair. He was one of the two males, who had raised. It seemed Melinda had her answer, who was the empath and who was the telepath.

It took a minute, but finally everyone seemed to relax. The wolves all left. “Wait, what?”

  
“They are going to shift back, that way we can all communicate.” A short brunet answered her, she was standing beside Melinda, on her right, even though she wasn’t there a second ago. “I’m Alice, that’s Jasper, Esme, Rosalie, Carlisle, Edward, Bella and you apparently already know Renesmee. Jacob, Seth and Leah are changing, so is Embry.”  
There were a lot of names, the witch-lighter just hoped she could remember them all.

  
Out of the tree line came a young man, he looked almost 20, he was hot, and the fact he was wearing nothing but a ripped jeans short helped his case even more. He approached Melinda with a huge smile on his face. “Hi, I’m Embry Call.” In front of him was a stretched hand. The girl took it, and the moment they touched she started to see the future. Instead of the normal premonitions she usually gets that shows her a specific moment in time, these were flashes, really fast, showing her almost her entire future. She saw them kiss, prom, she walk down the isle towards him, he saying ‘I do’, she pregnant, their first born, they lying in bed together, two children jumping on top of them, she could hear their laughs, and finally the two of them in front of a mirror, looking old and happy together.

  
The ringing in Melinda’s ear brought her back to the present, in front of her Embry had a concern face, beside her was the Carlisle, asking her if she was okay, behind her was Alice, she appeared to be holding Melinda up.

  
The witch looked into Embry’s face and said the only thing that seemed to occupy her mind right now. “Shit.”


	2. The House Guest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY it took me so long!!! Sorry!!! Enjoy!! Don't forget to review! Love you all!!

Everyone was gathered inside the Cullen’s living room. The shape shifters, except Jacob, Seth, Embry, Quil and Leah had left, the last three were standing close to the back door while Jacob and Seth were siting down on the couch, Melinda was standing next to the huge piano, the matriarchs were at the love sit while the rest of the vampires were standing around the room. Rosalie had Renesmee in her arms.

The witch could feel Embry’s eyes on her, since she had woken up they had not left her. Neither had the images of their future together. No matter how hard she tried, Melinda could not forget what she saw.

“As Alice already said, my name is Carlisle Cullen, I was born mid 16 century, and turned at the age of 23. My father was an Anglican pastor who hunted down werewolves, vampires and witches, and burned them. When he became old, I took over, I never enjoyed it, but did it because he ordered. One night, I found a coven of vampires, however the raid went wrong, and I ended up bitten and left for dead. I was able to hide in a potato shack during the transformation. After that I ran away, I tried to starve myself, but failed, when an elk of deer passed near my hiding spot. It was then that I realized I didn’t not have to kill humans to live. It took me a few years, but I was able to control my thirst, after that I became a doctor. And since then have dedicated my life to helping others. I traveled alone for a very long time, until Edward’s mother begged me to save her son.”

“I was born Edward Anthony Masen Jr., both my parents died due to the Spanish Influenza. Like Carlisle said, my mother begged him to save me. The year was 1919, I was 17 at the time. In my human life, I always had a way of reading people, and because of that now I can read minds. A couple of months ago I married Bella. Together we had Renesmee, who was born three days ago.”

“The next one to be turned was me, my name was Esme Anne Platt, I was turned at the age of 26, after I tried to kill myself, because my child had died. Carlisle found me at the morgue, my heartbeat was weak but present. After the change, we fell in love, and got married.”

When Esme finished speaking, there was silence, all the vampires turned towards Rosalie. “I don’t see the point in this.” She said, without even looking up from the baby in her arms. Leah gave a grunt in agreement.

“Rosalie...”

“It’s okay, Carlisle. It doesn’t matter, she has the right not to share.” Melinda interrupted. In her opinion she didn’t get the point in saying to much as well, actually, she didn’t want to talk about herself. All she wanted was to do her job.

“It does matter, Melinda.” Carlisle insisted. Esme got up and took Renesmee from Rosalie’s arms, then gave her a pointed look. The blond vampire didn’t seem vary happy about it. But neither of the matriarchs seemed to care. Esme sat beside her husband.

After a few minutes, Rosalie finally started speaking. “I was born Rosalie Lilian Hale, at the age of 18 Carlisle found me almost dead and turned me. Two years later I found Emmett and asked Carlisle to change him. We are married.” It was short, but it was something.

After she ended, Emmett started. “I was fighting a black bear when it got the upper hand. This angel found me, and carried me back for over 100 miles. It was like being saved by an angel who brought me to God. I was 20 at the time, it was 1935. I don’t have any powers like some cheaters.” He finished with a booming laugh.

Alice was the next to speak, but Melinda cut her before. “Wait. You fought a bear, while human?” She inquired. Her response was a nod and a huge smile from Emmett. So she continued, “What the hell is your problem?”

“Melinda!” the matriarchs reprimanded her.

“What?” She looked at the two, while they seemed mad, the others not so much, except for Rosalie, she looked like she would rather be anywhere else, but the rest were either smiling, smirking or giggling. “Fine, sorry. Let’s continue.”

“I was born Mary Alice Brandon, but only recently I learned that, I was changed by an unknown worker in the asylum at 1920. While I was still human I would sometimes get visions of the future, or just a feeling. When I turned my power amplified, and now I can see the future at will. At 1948, in a diner in Philadelphia, I met this handsome young men. Together we came to the Cullens.”

“I was turned before Edward, but like my gorgeous wife just said, we came to the coven in 1950. I didn’t have quite the same upbringing as my adopted siblings. I was turned in 1863, 2 years before that I had joined the Confederate Army. While I was human, I was really good at knowing what the other people were feeling, so after I was bit, I developed the ability of feeling what others are feeling and manipulating it.” Jasper finished his story, now the only Cullen left to introduce herself was Bella.

“I’m Bella Swan, I’m 18, like Edward already said we got married, and after Renesmee birth they changed me.” With her story the Cullens introductions ended.

There was silence in the living room, the vampires and the shape shifters were waiting for the witch to talk. And they waited. But Seth couldn’t take the awkward silence, so he decided to introduce himself, and the pack. “I’m Seth, I’m 15, and currently third-in-command of the Black Pack, but do to the fact that Embry and Quil are most likely going to be joining us, I believe things are going to change. Jacob is our alpha, and the second is Leah, my big sister, the only girl in the pack.”

They were all staring at her, again, waiting. She didn’t want to talk, but after a few minutes she began. “Technically speaking I already introduced myself.” Melinda insisted. Three moans were heard and one sigh. The look in Carlisle’s face was not one the witch-lighter was used to, the disappointment was not usual in the Halliwell household, angry and annoyed faces were, but disappointed weren’t. “Okay. I’m 17 years-old, never knew my father, and my mother died before I could actually form a memory of her. I was raised by my three aunts and three uncles.” They waited a bit longer to see if she would say anything else. But in the end, that was her second introduction.

“Well, now that we have settled the introductions, it’s time to measure Ness – er, Renesmee.” Carlisle announced.

“Oh. You do this every day?” Bella wondered.

“Four times a day.” With that being said, Carlisle motioned Esme towards the couch, were Jacob and Seth sat. The youngest got up.

“She’s still growing quickly.” Edward murmured to Bella, Melinda was the only being in the room that hadn’t heard it. To the witch, Renesmee hadn’t changed since she got their, but to the vampire eyes, the difference would be there.

Bella and Edward, holding each other, seemed to be having a private conversation. The look in their faces showed the fear they had for their newborn daughter.

“Jacob, can I leave?” Leah asked, from her positioned, the look in her face was also clear. She felt out of place. The alpha didn’t take his eyes of his impritee to nod at her. She left, not before giving her little brother a once over. Quil nudged Embry to leave as well, but the latter shock his head, like the alpha, he didn’t take his eyes of his imprintee. Embry took a deep breath and finally got the courage to talk to her.

“Melinda.” Embry whispered, “Can we talk?” He was beside her now. At first the witch thought about denying, the memory of the future still in her mind. The thought of letting anyone in side her heart, after what had just happened, it was to much. But the nervousness in his eyes made her change her mind.

Maybe there wasn’t just one reason for the Elders to sent her here, but many of them. Maybe her job went beyond guiding and protecting Renesmee. And even though she didn’t want to do it, all she wanted was to go back to the Manor and lay down on her bed, she had to do it, for Eric.

So she gave him a nod, and the smile she got in return was huge, so big and so electrifying that it could light up the entire world. Embry took the lead, turning and walking towards the back yard, and she followed. But right before she crossed the doorway she remembered _“_ _Doc_ _!”_ the matriarch jumped, only Renesmee, who was now on her mothers arms once again, had been able to project things into his mind and to do so she had to touch him, but now, Melinda had screamed, from across the room, into his thoughts. _“My telepath abilities go beyond Edward’s and Renesmee’s, but this is not what I wanted to talk to you about. In case you need me, if something happens, anything, call my name, I’ll be able to hear it.”_ the vampire still looked bewildered, but none of the less, he gave the witch a nod. And with that she crossed the doorway, in the other side, in the bottom of the stairs, Embry was talking to Quil. With a nod towards Melinda, Quil left, running towards the forest, most likely shifting.

Embry led her towards the woods, they walked quite a bit and for quite a long time, after all Melinda’s boots weren’t made for hiking. They ended up stopping in a clearing.

“So, first of all, I wanted to introduce myself to you without anyone overhearing. I’m Embry, I just turned 16, in the begging of this year I shifted. That proves that my mother lied about who my father was, and he might still be alive. I tried asking her, but she sticks to her lie. Like most of the pack, I dropped out of High School, I wasn’t really good at it anyway, so I left after the change. It was hard to patrol at night and go to classes at the morning. Jacob and Quil are my best friends, it got really hard when Jacob sided with the Cullens last month, but now, I have a really good reason to change into his pack. And, I’m rambling.” He cut himself off. He was nervous, and the fact that Melinda’s face was emotionless was not helping. “Okay, second part, I wanted to explain to you what ‘Imprint’ meant. Please don’t freak out or anything.” Embry waited, he was hoping that she would already freak out, but she didn’t, her face remained emotionless. “It’s not love at first sight, it’s more than that. It’s like gravity. Once you find your imprintee, it’s no longer the earth that is holding you here, it’s her, in my case: you. It doesn’t mean we have to become lovers, I can be your brother, your friend, your protector, what ever you need me to be.”

The moment he had laid eyes on her, such warmth had filled him, but then when he had looked at her for the second time, he saw the pain, the hurt, the sadness in her eyes. And as much as she wanted to hide behind an emotionless face, he had seen it, even if it was just for a split second. When she didn’t want to introduce herself, he realized it was going to be hard to win her trust, to even be her friend. And as much as he had mentally prepared himself for the worst possible answer, when he heard it, it still cut through him like a sword. “I don’t need you to be anything.” It still hurt. But that didn’t mean he was giving up on her.

With those words, Melinda got ready to orb, it was too dark for her to walk back to the Cullen’s house. “I won’t give up on you.” Embry called out, that caused Melinda to freeze. She should have expected that, but she wasn’t ready.

“If you are smart, you will.” She cautioned him before orbing back to the Cullen’s house.

There Melinda found most of the vampires seating in the living room. The only one not seating was Bella, she was standing, with her daughter in her arms. Both Esme and Jasper were missing. The witch walked towards her charge. The mother protectively held her closer. Once in front of the two, Melinda tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it didn’t seem to work much. “It’s said that the most powerful bond is between a child and it’s mother. Something tells me that your bond with your daughter will be a very strong and lasting one.” Melinda predicted. It seemed to sooth Bella a bit, but she still didn’t relax her hold. The witch looked down at her charge, the baby girl was fast asleep in her mothers arms. Very slowly, giving the mother every time in the world to react, the witch placed her hand at Renesmee’s head, her idea was to caress it a bit, but she ended up receiving a premonition, it was really fast, more like a flash of the future. Renesmee was older, looking like a teen and she had a sword in her hip.

“What was that?” Edward inquired, Melinda had thankfully blocked her mind once more, so the mind reader had not seen the premonition, but the witch had gasped, like she always did when they happened, so now, all the vampires in the house were looking at her.

“Nothing.”

“That was not _nothing_.” Bella contradicted.

“It was a premonition, the future to be exact, my power is different than Alice. What I saw was Renesmee, she looked like a teen. Unfortunately, I don’t know when the premonition will happen. All I know is that it will.” She explained. Her gut told her not to tell them about the fact that Renesmee was her knight, at least no yet. What Melinda said had sparked hope into the parents. And now they were holding each other, with their daughter asleep in the middle.

Giving them as much privacy as they could have Melinda followed Esme into the kitchen. There the childless mother was cooking dinner.

“How do you feel about spaghetti for dinner, Melinda?” Esme asked nervous.

“It’s fine Ms. Cullen.” Melinda reassured her.

“Call me Esme, dear.” The smile in the vampire face was sweet and caring. So the witch smiled back.

Seating in one of the stools in the island, Melinda watched Esme cook. “I was wondering, it’s okay if you say no.” By now the only thing left cooking was the pasta, the sauce was already done, so the vampire turned to look at the teen. “I don’t really want to stop school, so I thought that maybe you could home school me, so that I don’t get behind.”

The vampire wasn’t quite expecting that for a request, but none of the less. She would gladly do it. “Of course, Melinda. All I need is you school records and a permission from the principal.”

“Knowing my aunt, she already has those things. I’ll give her a call.” The teen got up, ready to leave the kitchen, but was stopped by the vampire.

“Later. Can you please wake up Jacob and Seth and give a shout out to the werewolves outside, dinner is ready.” With a nod the witch left to do her job. Waking up Seth and Jacob was easy, they seemed like heavy sleepers, but the moment Melinda said ‘food’ they were both up. Outside was weird, because she couldn’t see anyone and she called out that food was ready, none showed up so she returned to the house. Both Jacob and Seth were already eating, so she sat down across from them. After a few minutes Embry arrived. He sat beside Melinda, she did not acknowledge him.

“Just so we can prepare ourselves better, what courses do you take Melinda?” Carlisle had joined them at the table, so did Jasper and Alice. The doctor was focused on his tablet, while the couple talked to Jacob and Seth. Embry eyes were always drifting towards her.

“AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus AB, AP English language and composition, AP US History, AP Government and Politics and AP US Government and Politics.” Once she was finished they were all starring at her. The ice was broken by Jacob whistle, all except the witch, chuckled.

“Wow! What’s your GPA?” Seth asked enthusiastic.

“4.8” She answered. That seemed to surprise everyone again.

“Planing of going into politics or something like that?” Jasper inquired with a smile on his face.

“Something like that.” The witch returned his smile.

“We can already start planing your tutoring hours, in case the principal asks for our game plan.” Carlisle started typing in the tablet, and everyone went back to what they were doing before. Alice ans Jasper tried to include Melinda and Embry in their conversation, however the witch always found a way to answer with a nod or a shake of the shoulders and the shape-shifter didn’t pay attention.

Once dinner was done, Alice led Melinda to where would be her bedroom for the time being. “This was Edwards bedroom, but he wont be needing it anymore. Tomorrow I’ll get the boys to remove Edwards CDs -”

“No!” Melinda exclaimed. There was a surprised look in Alice’s face, but it was soon morphed into a grin.

“Okay. The closet is still full. Tomorrow I’ll get Jazz and Emmett to clear it, so we can put your clothes there. And later we can go shopping, because I don’t think you brought enough clothes. Have a good night.” She left with a smile and a wave.

The first thing Melinda did was call her aunt, telling Piper that she arrived and that she was settled in. They also talked about the tutoring, the witch-lighter was right, her aunt had already talked to the principal of the High School and the dean of Magic School. After a talk with Carlisle to get his email, Melinda ended her conversation. The witch looked at Edward’s CD collection for a while, before getting ready for bed. Like the last week, sleep didn’t come easily and when it did, it was full of nightmares.

She woke up with a gasp, like the other days it was still dark, this time however, there was a cold hand in her arm. Focusing in the person seating on the bed Melinda saw Carlisle. He gave her a kind smile. “Would you like to talk about it?” He asked. Turning towards the door she saw Embry, with a pained look in his face, Jasper and Esme. She could feel the tears in her face. Instead of answering him, she disentangled herself from the sheets and rolled over, turning her back to them and facing the windows. They got the message, and left. “Come, she’ll talk to us whenever she is ready.” Carlisle tried to sooth Embry. The later only left after a few minutes. Melinda could sense he still was outside her door. Angrily she cleaned the tear marks in her cheeks.

Unfortunately the windows here weren’t turned towards east, so she couldn’t see the sunrise. Melinda stayed in bed for a few more hours, until someone came knocking on her door. She did not go back to sleep.

“Breakfast is ready, Melinda.” Esme’s voice could be heard. When the vampire did not receive an answer she closed the door and went back down stairs. The will to leave the bed wasn’t there, but she had a job to do. So Melinda got up, and got ready. Her clothes were similar than the ones she wore the day before, the only difference was that instead of the leather jacket, she was wearing a fake fur vest.

In the hallway, Embry was waiting for her. “Good morning!” He smiled at her. She stopped and stared at him. Without a word she turned and went downstairs. Embry followed. Downstairs she found Carlisle and Emmett sitting in the table. Jacob was already eating, Melinda noticed that the two seats left were in front of each other. _“_ _Of course...”_ She took the seat beside Carlisle and Embry gleefully sat in front of her.

“Melinda, your aunt has sent me your school records and the permission from the principal. I have just one question. Magic School?” Carlisle question wasn’t even properly formed, but the witch understood what he meant.

“It’s a school for witches and other magic beings to learn how to use and control their powers and other stuff, like potions, fighting and spells. It was created by an Elder a long time ago. It has really powerful protective spells around it, that way, no demon or magical being that means harm can get inside.” Melinda divulged.

“So you go to both of them? At the same time?”

“No. I go to High School in the normal hours and to Magic School after the classes, clubs and practice.” She corrected him.

“Oh.” That, again, impressed the vampires.

“Why? There is more to life than studding. Like playing video games, for example.” Emmett proclaimed. He received a sight from the matriarch and a roll of eyes from the witch, plus a few chuckles from the others vampires and shape-shifters.

“Melinda, Esme and I have put together a schedule for you. Jasper will tutor you on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, he will teach you AP US History, AP Us Government and Politics and AP Government and Politics. Esme will share Mondays with Jasper, with AP English Language and Composition. While I will tutor you on Tuesdays and Thursdays with AP Physics, AP Chemistry and AP Calculus. Does that sound good for you?”

“Perfect. What did the principal say about the clubs?”

“He said that the if you return next semester you will be allowed to participate in the nationals on May, both for the Decathlon and the Glee club. Unfortunately, for now, you are no longer part of the Key Club and no longer head cheerleader, if you return next semester the squad is willing to give you another spot.”

“Okay. Thanks Carlisle.”

“You are a nerd!” Emmett joked.

“No, I’m the queen of the school. Or at least, I used to be.” Melinda corrected him sadly.

“Embry, have you talked to your mother?” Carlisle questioned the shape-shifter. The alpha looked at his friend, questioning what that was all about. But Embry ignored him.

“I talked to her this morning Doctor, she said that she would talk to the principal this afternoon.” He answered.

“You are going back to school?” This time it was Jacob who inquired. Melinda was interested in what was going all, after all, yesterday Embry had said he had dropped out of school, why would he want to return now? _“You know the answer to that, Mels...”_ She heard herself in her mind, but choose to ignore her.

“Yes, but not in the reservation. I asked the Doctor and Ms. Cullen, and they said they would be willing to home school me as well.” Embry explained to his friend. He however didn’t look at Jacob while he spoke, he looked only at Melinda. The witch simply rolled her eyes at him. Having finished her breakfast the witch followed Alice, Emmett and Jasper to her room. There the two male vampires started cleaning and boxing Edward’s clothes, while Alice coordinated. Melinda sat by the window, just watching. Embry soon joined the two, and the work was done. The five of them returned to the living room.

Renesmee was now awake, from her thoughts it was clear she wanted her mother and father. Rosalie tried to sooth her, but she wasn’t having it. “Mind if I try something?” The blonde vampire turned to the witch.

“Rosalie, let her.” Carlisle reprimanded Rose before she could even deny Melinda her chance. The female vampire gave a sight.

“Put her on the ground please.” Melinda instructed. The female blonde vampire looked at the witch like she had lost her mind, but in the end put her down. Jacob was quick to sit beside Renesmee, while Rose sat behind her. They were both ready in case the witch tried to harm the baby girl. Melinda smiled down at her charge before she snapped her fingers. Slowly papers, chess pieces, keys, and other small objects started to float around the living room. The witch put her hands up and slowly approached them, with that the objects floated closer to Renesmee, swirling her hands around, that caused the objects to start to spin slowly around her charge. The baby smiled and tried to reach for the objects around her.

From time to time some objects floated close to Renesmee causing her to try harder to reach. Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Carlisle and Esme were sitting on the couch, Melinda was siting in the piano bench, Jacob and Rosalie were still siting beside the baby girl. Embry was the only one standing, in front of the piano, looking at his imprintee.

The Cullens started to talk about where they were moving to next, their plan was to go to New Hampshire. Melinda didn’t really care were they went, her job was to go with them, no matter what. Jacob angrily left. Renesmee asked her aunt Rose where he had gone, and the vampire had answered that he would be back before getting the child to focus on the floating objects again. Embry didn’t follow him, but his mood did change. He was really quiet, contemplative, the smile had disappeared from his face, now there was a frown.

Soon after Bella and Edward arrived. The Cullens continued talking about where they would go. After Carlisle reassurance that they wouldn’t be moving right away Melinda went upstairs to unpack and Embry followed.

Melinda worked on unpacking while Embry sat beside the window. In the middle of the second travel back the witch heard screaming downstairs, apparently Jacob had done something wrong. The 17 year-old finished unpacking, she looked at the door then back at Embry. He didn’t seem to realize that something was going on downstairs. With a sigh Melinda turned towards the shape-shifter. “What is it?” She asked him.

Embry slowly turned towards her, his face was a mask of pain. Taking a deep breath he explained to her. “If you go, I go. There’s no doubt, that no matter where you go, I’ll follow. The same goes to Jacob and Nessie. But Quil wouldn’t, his imprintee lives in the reservation. And my mom wouldn’t as well. If I go, I’m going to be leaving this people behind. My family. I – just, don’t know how I’m going to say goodbye to them, or even if I want to.” A lone tear rolled down the russet skin.

“Good thing you don’t need to.” A perplexed look took over Embry’s face. Like he would ever leave his imprintee. “What I mean is: Jacob told Bella’s dad, about him being a shape-shifter and he is coming here.” The look in the shape-shifters face changed once more, this time to shock. “Come on now, let’s see the mess that is waiting for us downstairs.”

 


	3. An Eternity of Misery

In the end the Cullens hadn't moved. Jacob had told Charlie the truth about him and Bella's father now came to visit at least twice a week. It was weird, because he knew that they were all different, but for his safety he could not truly know what they were. Sam had gotten mad at the young alpha for exposing their secret, but in the end understood why he had done it.

After that life had returned to normal, at least as normal as it could get, in the Cullen's house hold. There was a routine now: wake up, lay in bed, breakfast, classes, lunch, more classes, spend time with the Cullens, dinner, bath, lay in bed, sleep, nightmare, wake up, lay in bed, breakfast… It had been the same for the last month. Ever since she had come to live with them. Wake up, lay in bed, breakfast, classes, lunch, more classes, spend time with the Cullens, dinner, bath, lay in bed, sleep, nightmare, wake up, lay in bed, breakfast… She missed her family. It was weird living somewhere that wasn't the manor, she had been born and raised in said house. Even though there was always a lot of people in the Cullens house hold, their house didn't feel alive like the manor. It lacked the movement and fullness that the manor had. At the same time she was thankful for not having that, she also missed it.

The Cullens knew that there was something hurting Melinda, but they didn't know what it was. But that didn't matter to them, even Rosalie understood that, they were there for her, even when she didn't want them. Every night when she woke up from a nightmare Carlisle would be beside her, caressing her hand, Embry would be sitting on a chair, just observing and Jasper downstairs would be using his powers to calm her down. And after her classes Alice and Rosalie would sit down with her and talk about fashion, sometimes Carlisle would talk about magic with her, Emmett always asked to see her powers, but she never showed them, she was scared to show them. They kept her busy, which was exactly what she needed.

Wake up, lay in bed, breakfast, classes, lunch, more classes, spend time with the Cullens, dinner, bath, lay in bed, sleep, nightmare, wake up, lay in bed, breakfast… It had been over a month since Eric's death, and she still hadn't mourned. She knew that wasn't healthy, but she couldn't face it, couldn't face his death. And because of that she couldn't find it in herself to live, there were times she wanted to.

Embry tried to get closer to her, in the begining he talked to her during classes and he tried to talk to her after the classes. After a few days he realized that she didn't want to talk, so he just sat beside her without saying a word. It was weird, the silence was so quiet that Melinda started to think about Eric. After a couple of days like that Melinda lost her patience. "Just because I don't talk, doesn't mean you can't." So Embry went back to talking to her, telling stories about his friends, and the pranks and messes they got in, and Melinda went back to pretending to ignore him. One day he surprised her and decided to take her to the beach.

It wasn't sunny, quiet the opposite it was cloudy and drizzling, but it was just the two of them. Embry talked all the hike there. And once on the beach he said that since they were alone he could talk about things he was really afraid to say out loud in case someone hears him, like how he's really angry at his mom, for still lying to him about who his father truly is and for having an affair with a married man, like how he is shameful of being an illegitimate child, born out of a sin. He talked for a very long time. And when the silence came Melinda, without her even realizing, opened her mouth and talked. "I don't know how to swim. I'm actually afraid of the water." And she didn't stop. "It's one of those irrational fears, you know those that pass down from mother to child. My mom was afraid of the water, because my grandma died drowned by a demon, but my mom didn't know that until after I was born. So she always feared the water. One day because of a demon she faced said fear, but I never could. I never felt the need to face it, so I never learned how to swim."

"Do you miss her?" It was a simple question, but at the time the answer was so complicated.

"It's hard to miss something you don't remember. She died before I could form a memory of her. My aunts, uncles and grandpa never truly told me how she died. The only thing they said was that a demon had killed her, and I never asked a lot of questions because I saw how hurt they were about her death. But one day, a coupe of years ago the Angel of Death took me down a trip on the past, the present and the future, and I saw her, she was beautiful. And she sacrificed herself for me. She died so that I could live. The demon that killed her, had originally killed me, but my aunts turned back time, and mom made a deal with the Angel of Death. She knew the consequences but she still made the deal. One life for another, she knew that. So they turned back time, and Death stopped me from orbing to the manor because my mom was in danger, and because of that the demon hit her and she died." For the first time since she met him, Embry was out of words. "I never told anyone about this. About the fact that I know how she died."It felt weird opening up, but at the same time it was easy to do so to with him.

After that day on the beach they seemed to get closer, Melinda still didn't talk much, but Embry made up for it. The routine remained the same, but something in her nightmares changed, they weren't just about Eric's death anymore.

**-TQK-**

This time Melinda didn't just wake up with a gasp, she woke up screaming.

"Melinda, honey it's okay." Carlisle tried to sooth her.

"No. No. Nooo!" The witch got out of bed. Looking around she tried to locate the phone, but didn't find it. "Where's the phone?" She screamed.

"Melinda, calm down. The phone is downstairs." Esme answered. Melinda turned to look at her and realized that every other resident of the house was at her door. Everyone was looking at her with a worried look in their faces, even Rosalie. The witch ran past them all, ignoring them, straight downstairs, where she found the phone. She didn't even realize her hands were shaking until she tried to dial the number and couldn't.

On the second try she got the number right, and it started to ring. "Pick up. Pick up. Pick up!" She had no idea what time it was, but she needed the person on the other side to pick up.

Everyone had followed her downstairs. The worried look in their faces remained.

After 5 rings a sleepy male voice answered the phone. "Hello." Everyone in the house was focusing in both ends of the conversation, they didn't usually do it, but the despair in Melinda's voice once she had woken up from her nightmare had them all worried.

"Uncle Leo!" the relief in the witches voice was heard, even by her uncle.

In the background could be heard Piper asking her husband who was it on the phone. "It's Mel." he explained, but that only brought more questions from the aunt, and since he didn't know the reason for the call Leo put the phone on speaker. "Mel, what's going on?"

"You-", "Y-" The witch couldn't seem to form a sentence, the panic she felt in her nightmare was still coursing through her. "You-". "died." Her breathing was shallow and rapid, they all wanted to help her, but this time they didn't know how. Jasper tried to calm the witch down with his powers, but she seemed to be affecting him more than he was affecting her.

"Melinda, I'm not dead. You are talking to me right now, sweety."

"I- I know. It's just-" she knew he wasn't dead, but she still couldn't seem to calm down. Her entire body was shaking. "Instead of Eric, it was you who died." Thoughts were running wild on the rest of members of the house. _"Eric?" "Boyfriend?" "How did he die?" "She obviously blames herself for his death."._ "I couldn't save you. I tried, I swear I tried Uncle Leo!" It was getting worse, she was hyperventilating, if she continued like that for another minute she was going to pass out. She was scared, the fear, the powerlessness she felt when Eric died had all come to surface with her nightmare.

"I failed you!". Her sorrow, her anguish, her grief were all present in her wail. Suddenly she fell on her knees in despair. Embry instantly was by her side, he didn't think twice before passing an arm around her and bringing her closer to his chest, all he wanted was to help his impritee. Jasper could fell the sorrow and the grief that coursed inside her, he couldn't control them. It was all to much that he held on to his wife, she was the only thing stopping him from falling on the floor, just like the witch.

"Melinda, listen to me. You didn't fail me and you didn't fail Eric." In the background doors could be heard opening and closing, running could be heard.

Suddenly a weird sound was heard in the other side of the line. In less than a few seconds that sound became more pronounced, this time it could be heard in the living room, with it blue orbs started to appear. They took the shape of two men, one looked around 50 years-old and the other 16. Just by looking at them it was clear they were father and son. The eldest hanged up the phone and ran towards Melinda, knelling in front of her. "Listen to me Melinda, Eric's death is not on you." Leo held the his niece's face, getting her to look at him. "I know that right now is easier blaming yourself than blaming him. But it's okay to blame him Mels, he left you. I know you think it's unfair that he died and left you alone in this world, that he didn't have a chance to live his life, to fulfill his dreams. And since he couldn't, neither can you. He will live forever, because Mels, when someone you love dies, you don't lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time, your heart never seals back up, it remains forever broken. Eric will forever live in your broken heart. Here is the thing Mels, grief is a powerful thing, it can either destroy you or it can make you stronger. And you are the strongest person I know, so don't let this destroy you. It's okay to mourn him Mels, that doesn't make you weak."

And just like that the witch allowed the tears to fall. Every emotion she had bundled up inside of her came forward. The pain of losing her brother hit her. It was so much that even Jasper couldn't handle it, this time his wife wasn't enough and he also fell on the ground. His wife and his adoptive mother tried to help him, his tearless sobbes proved just how much the young witch was really suffering.

Ignoring everyone in the room, Embry took his imprintee in his arms, and got up. Calmly he walked upstairs, and put her in bed. While he did that Leo told his eldest son to go home, after all he had classes the next day. Jasper was carried outside by his wife, Emmett and Rosalie, their idea was to get him far away from Melinda so that he couldn't be influenced by her emotions. Jacob left to tell Edward and Bella what had happened in the house. Carlisle, Esme and Leo joined Melinda and Embry in the bedroom. There they found them both laying in bed, the sape-shifter was holding and caressing the witch while she cried. Leo sat on Embry's chair, while Carlisle and Esme stood in each others arms. All four of them felt powerless to help the young girl they cared about.


	4. You decided I was worth saving

Waking up Melinda could tell that something was different, it wasn’t just the fact that it was sunny, or the tear marks on her cheeks, or the fact that there was someone behind her. When she opened her eyes she saw Carlisle and Esme both smiling at her, it wasn’t a pity smile or a happy smile, it was just a simple “good morning” smile. Looking at the arms around her she knew that it’s Embry the one lying on bed with her. 

It took her a few seconds to remember all that had happened the night before, but when it all came back to her she sat quickly in the bed. Embry and Carlisle moved with her, each sitting on one of her sides.  The witch saw her uncle, he was waking up in the Embry’s chair, he looked dead on his feet. It was quit obvious he had remained awake for some time after Melinda was put to bed. 

She wanted to keep crying, but it seemed she had, once more, ran out of tears.  Uncle Leo was right, when you lose someone you love, they go slowly.  The sadness the she felt was so big it seemed like it could easy swallow her up,  and it was slowly, there was a ringing in her ear and her vision was blurry. She felt Carlisle take a lock of her hair and put it behind her ear, she also knew they were talking to her, but she couldn’t hear them. It wasn’t until Leo lifted her chin up that she realized Carlisle, Esme and Embry had left the room. 

“-still in there. I know you just want the world to swallow you up. I know you think the pain is so big you are not going to make it. But trust me Melinda, you are. Mourning him wont be easy, but you know that you are not alone. We are here for you. We love you. And we will always, always stand by your side.” She had only heard part of her uncle’s speech, but it was enough. 

“I know you are suffering, and I know you just want it to stop. And that is way you have refused to mourn him until last night. But don’t shut down again Mels. You are an amazing person, who made one wrong decision, but that doesn’t mean that his death is on you. The only one to blame is the demon. You can also blame Eric for leaving you behind if you want.” He continued, “I know right now it seems hard, but you got to move on, not just for him. You can’t go on living for him. You got to live for yourself Mels, that is the only way you will ever find peace. And before you say you aren’t worth it, know this Melinda, you are worth it, you are worth the world and so much more. You are caring, selfless, strong, charismatic, compassionate, intelligent, funny, kind and so much more. If anyone deserves to live is you. So please, Mels, come back.”

Apparently there were some tears left, because by the end of her uncle’s speech, the witch-lighter was crying once more. “How? How do I get used to this? How do I get u p every morning knowing I killed my brother? How do I live when he couldn’t? How, uncle Leo? Tell me how!”

“There isn’t a formula Mels, remember, you are human, you are not perfect. It seems hard to believe, but trust me, it will get better with time. I know that right now it seems hard to even considerate that, it seems unfair. But it’s not. You have already found something worth living, you just got to allow yourself to feel. To feel loved, cherished, protected, happy. In San Francisco you were remained way too often about Eric, but here in Forks, you got yourself a second chance. Allow them in Mels, and I promise it will get easier.” He finished with a smile that could light up the entire house. And without realizing the witch smiled in return, it was hard not to. Happy to see the small smile, the ex-withelighter hugged his niece. They stayed like that until both their stomachs started making noises. 

“As much as I want to stay here, I need to calm you aunt down, if I don’t show up in 20 minutes she is going to storm here demanding answers. You know how Piper is. And by now both Phoebe and Paige are at the manor also going crazy.” The witch nodded, agreeing with her uncle. “So can you do me the favor of orbing me home?” He stood up from the bed. “And remember, let them in Mels.” With that final advice the witch-lighter orbed him home. For the first time in almost a month, she was alone, it seemed weird, quiet. She was, after all, used to Embry or Alice talking, or Edward playing the piano, or Jacob and Rosalie bickering over Renesmee, or Charlie and Sue presence, or Bella’s talk with her father. The witch decided not to dwell on that and quickly got out of bed and decided to take a quick shower before going downstairs to eat breakfast. 

But no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t get the words her uncle had said out of her mind. She knew, deep down, that he was right, it was just to hard to admit it. It didn’t seem fair. It was hard, but Melinda decided to follow some of her uncle’s advice.  Just because she mourned him, didn’t mean she was going to forget him , uncle Leo was right, Eric would always live in her heart.  And maybe he would even want her to live for herself instead of living for him. She just couldn’t allow the Cullens and the pack in any more, they had somehow lodged inside of her trying to reach her heart, but she wouldn’t, couldn’t allow it, it didn’t seem fair  or safe, after all, it was her love for Eric that got him killed.  There were already people she had allowed in, her family, Jackie, Hannah, AJ and M ira , and if they died she wouldn’t survive.  If she allowed the  Cullens and the pack in, the list would just get bigger, and that would make her weaker. She had to survive, she had a job to do, protect the innocent, rule the magical community, guide future withelighters, witches and others in need, and the only way she was doing that is if she didn’t allow them in. At least that’s what she repeated to herself over and over on the shower. 

Choosing against the style she has been wearing for the last month, Melinda chose something that resembled that she used to wear before everything. She chose a high waist A-line whine colored flared skirt, a cropped cream sweater, black thigh-high pantyhose and leather and suede ankle booties. Somehow dressing more like how she used to helped her. 

Downstairs she found only Carlisle cooking in the kitchen. 

“Where is everyone?”

“I asked them to leave, I wanted to talk to you in private.” The vampire turned and smiled towards her before pointing to the chair in the counter. The witch-lighter sat down, waiting for him to start speaking. He didn’t. After he was done cooking he sat her plate in front of her, there was scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and waffles. With a quiet ‘thanks’ she dug in. He sat beside her reading the newspaper, patiently waiting until she was done to talk. 

Once done she took her plate to the sink, and she washed while he dried. It was weird how in tune they were with each other, even though they had never preformed a task such as this. Once they were done, Carlisle lead her to the couch. 

“When you arrived, having never seen magic before, we saw you as a threat. But out of nowhere having stood there for just a few seconds, you chose to save Jacob. You didn’t have to, but you chose to. When we introduced ourselves you could have stayed quiet, we didn’t want to, but it was your choice. You chose to share with us a piece of yourself that meant something, that was more than just some information. On the next day, when Charlie was coming over, you could have stayed away, hid in the bedroom, but you didn’t, you stayed here, to support Bella and to help, in case something went wrong. Every single day you could have locked yourself away, but you didn’t, you chose to spend time with us, even though you were in pain. You relied on us, even when you didn’t need to. I know you chose to do those things because if you stopped you would have thought about your brother, Eric. But that doesn’t matter to me, or to anyone else on this family.

“We believe that having a ‘vegetarian’ diet allows us to form bonds close as a real family. That’s what we are, a family. And you are now part of it. You are part of us now, Melinda. You are part of this family.” The vampire had his arm around her while sitting in the couch. “I remember perfectly the moment I decided you were part of this family. It was on you third night here. Just like every night you woke up from a nightmare and I was seating beside you. But something was different about this night, when you woke up, you looked more terrified than usual, your body was even more rigid. But then, your eyes found mine and you calmed down. I gave your hand a squeeze and you returned. And this time you didn’t role around, you didn’t turn you back on me, you just lay there, allowing the tears to come while I held you hand.

“A week later, you knocked on my office door, when you looked at my personal collection of books your face just lit up, it was so beautiful to watch. That was when I decided that that wasn’t the last time I would see you looking like that. And then you turned to me, and insecurely asked me if I could help you with a physics exercise that you were having trouble with. And so I did, gladly, it has always been my pleasure to help others, it drives me, just like I know it drives you. But helping you, something inside of me stirred. I realized I didn’t just see you as part of the family, I saw you as a daughter, a daughter who I could help, who I need to protect, who I could teach, who had such potential to learn and to thrive, who loves books, and music and arts, someone very much like me, like Edward, Rosalie, Alice, and everyone in this family. You are all of us, in one, and you have so much to learn, so much to become. I plan on helping you get there. Because Melinda, without even realizing you became my daughter, and I plan to protect you, to love you, to respect you, to help you, to be a shoulder for you to cry on and to guide you, always and forever.”

Ever since she arrived, Melinda could tell that there was something unique in her relationship with Carlisle, it was different than any other one she had with her family. When he looked at her with pride something inside her stirred, and on the day she arrived when he looked at her trying to mask his disappointment for not sharing she couldn’t deal with it, she didn’t know how to.  The closest thing she ever had to a father was her uncle Leo. But here was Carlisle offering to be her father, to love her unconditionally, to protect her, and to help her whenever she needed. All she had to do, was let him in, allow him inside her heart, and she would forever have him. Before she came downstairs the idea was to not let them in. 

“I don’t know how to be a daughter.” She whispered. It seemed appropriate. “All my life it has always been aunts and uncles, never mom and dad, What if I screw up and you change your mind?” 

“There is nothing in this world that will make me change my mind, Melinda.” The truth was clear in his voice. “There isn’t much to know about how to be a daughter, Melinda, it’s not an exact science. But if you allow, we can learn together what it means to be a daughter.”

“Eric died because I loved him.”

“I’m sure that is not-”

“I decided to hunt down a very powerful demon, I failed to kill him, so he came after me, he failed as well, he came after my family and failed again. So he then went after Eric. He was a mortal, who knew about magic. The demon killed him because he was my brother, because he meant something to me, because I loved him.” Carlisle hugged the crying witch. Her tears were falling in his light blue sweater, most likely destroying it. “Swear you wont die.”

“Melinda, that is a compli-”

“NO! You can’t die. SWEAR IT!” She pushed away from him to look into his eyes. The vampire could see the despair in her eyes. “Swear you will not die before me.”

“I swear.” He couldn’t control death, couldn’t control his time. But he made the promise all the same. It was what Melinda wanted and needed at the moment, and like he said before, he would ensure she got what she needed. They hugged again, this time the witch seemed calmer, the anguish and despair had left her, or at least decreased. 

“Can we skip classes today?” The question toke him by surprise. First because they had been in silence, hugging, for almost 10 minutes straight, and second because Melinda didn’t seem like the kind of girl to skip class.

“Sure. What do you have in mind?” 

“Uncle Leo said I should live for myself, and not for Eric.”

“That’s one good advice.” The doctor acknowledged. “And how do you plan on doing that?”

“I guess by being myself once more.” Instead of going deeper on said subject the witch changed it. “You can tell the rest of the family they can return. I’m pretty sure Embry must be driving the other shape-shifters crazy.” She finished with a small smile. While Carlisle called Esme to tell her that the talk had gone well and they could all return, Melinda sat on the piano bench softly playing with some keys. 

The first ones to arrive were Edward, Bella, Renesmee, Jacob and Embry. The young hybrid quickly jumped from her mothers arms to the ground before running towards the witch. 

“Hi,” a sweet voice filled the room, “can you play, Melinda?” Renesmee didn’t use her powers to communicate with the witch. It wasn’t that the witch didn’t accept her powers, it’s just that she had spent years learning to control her telepathy, and to be successful at that she needed to keep her mind very well shielded. But every time Renesmee used her power on Melinda, her shield would waver a bit. And that caused her to loose focus and read someones mind accidentally. So the witch-lighter had asked the young hybrid to not use her power on her, and being such an intelligent and understanding being Renesmee had agreed. 

“It’s been a while, to tell you the truth.”

“Daddy can help you remember. He said he is going to teach me when I big enough to reach all the keys.”

“Well maybe I’ll ask him, but not today. Today I have something else in mind.”

“Oh.” The adorable confused face Renesmee had soon turned into a curious one. Curiosity radiated of her, and you didn’t have to be an empath to feel it. But she somehow held it back. She jumped down from the bench, and ran towards her imprinter, while Melinda’s imprinter took her place in the bench. 

“Carlisle said we are not having classes today. So what are we doing?” She chose not to answer him, instead she gave him a small smile and put her hand up, in the universal gesture that meant ‘wait’. He got the message. So Melinda went back to softly playing with the keys. 

About 10 minutes later, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper arrive. The last seemed hesitant to coming in, while his wife danced her way inside.

“Alice.” Everyone froze, it was weird to hear so much of Melinda’s voice in just a few minutes. “On my first night here you said something about a going shopping.”

“Yes!” The pixie vampire let a cheerful scream of joy. “We are definitaly going to Seattle, maybe the Pacific Place or the Northgate Mall...” she continued mumbling, but now it was to low for the witch to hear. 

With a chuckle Melinda got up from where she was and walked towards her room.  In there she took her favorite coat, gray and black with faux fur on the collar and a simple, small, Calvin Klein black shoulder bag. In there were her cellphone, a samsung glyde, her wallet,  which contained both her money and her grandpas credit card, which was to be used only in these situations,  and her sunglasses.

Back downstairs Carlisle and Alice were having a hushed conversation, even if Melinda tried to listen the speed they were talking was to fast for her to understand. The witch saw her charge siting on the piano bench with her father, Embry had gotten up and joined Jacob and Bella at the end of the piano, just watching father and daughter. Renesmee didn’t seem so happy anymore. 

Walking towards her, the witch crouched beside the bench. “ Sweety, whats wrong?” The little girl raised her head ad looked at the witch, she didn’t answer her, it seemed she couldn’t say what she wanted. So she ended stretching her arm towards Melinda’s face, she didn’t touch her, leaving for the witch-lighter that decision. Taking a deep breath and projecting her shield around Edward’s mind the witch lowered hers and closed the gap between the month old baby and her face. 

The image that filled her mind was of her leaving, time passing and her not returning. The sadness that Renesmee felt with that was huge. In just a month the young one had already started to see Melinda as so much more than a guider and a protector, she was now a friend, a big sister, someone she could trust. 

It wasn’t just Renesmee’s thoughts that filled the witch’s mind, the louder ones were Embry’s and Jasper’s. Her imprinter was thinking of how lonely it was going to be while she went out today, how she didn’t even invite him. And the vampire was thinking about how Melinda’s feelings were different today, it was bigger than just the pain she allowed herself to feel last night. He was happy, that she was trying to be happy, that, even though it was slowly, she was allowing them in. 

“Baby girl, you don’t have to worry. I’m not leaving you.” The witch took her in her arms. “Not today and not tomorrow.”

“Promise?” The sound of her voice made Renesmee seem so much younger than what her mental development put her. 

“I promise. I also promise to bring you a gift when we return. Now lets change that sad look from your face. I think a few kisses will do.” Melinda proceeded to kiss all over Renesmee’s face, little butterfly kisses. Lots of them. The hybrid was giggling like crazy in her arms and the witch was also laughing. Every one stopped to watch the scene, it was quite a beautiful one. Rosalie was quick to wipe up a camera to make sure the moment would last forever. “Good. Once again we have ourselves a happy baby amongst us.” That got a chuckle from everyone in the room and a giggle from the baby girl. The witch smiled one more time at her charge before putting her down beside her father. 

“Okay. Let’s go, Melinda.” Alice was jumping up and down, and it seemed her enthusiasm wasn’t going to go down anytime soon. She danced her way to the garage, expecting the witch to follow. Bu she didn’t, at least no immediately. Melinda walked towards Embry, and when he just stood there, she took his arm and pulled him towards the garage. When they were both at the top of the stairs, she turned around towards the Cullens. They had all started to do something. Esme and Jasper were playing chess, Rosalie and Emmett watching TV, while Edward played the piano and Jacob, Bella and Renesmee watched. 

“Rose? You coming?” The blond vampire was surprised by the invite, but her face soon changed into a smile. With a quick peak on her husbands lips she followed Melinda and Embry to the garage, where Alice was already waiting in Carlisle Mercedes-Benz.

The trip to the mall was quite a peaceful one. Alice and Rosalie chatted none stop the entire way, while Melinda enjoyed the view.

In the mall they shopped until lunch time, where, by Melinda’s pick they ate at Din Tai Fung. After lunch they stopped in even more stores. At first Embry was caring the bags, but then there was to many of them and the volume was making it uncomfortable to carry them, so they started to make trips to the car to leave them in the trunk. They had made a total of 3 trips to the car. And it didn’t seem like they wanted to stop anytime soon. 

At the first store Melinda tried to pass her grandpa’s credit card, but Alice and Rosalie were very clear, Carlisle had said that she wasn’t paying for anything today.  After that Melinda tried to slow the two vampire downs, only saying she wanted what she truly loved, but it didn’t matter to them. If they liked it on her, they bought it. And even if she didn’t try it on, if they thought it was going to look good on her they also bought it. It was what they had done it while she and Embry had lunch. 

“Isn’t there a shop that sales hiking equipment here?” That seemed to freeze the two vampires. It was a weird phrase to come out of the witch’s mouth. Neither the witch of the shape-shifter were ready for their stop. It took the witch the longest to realize the two vampires had stopped.

“We have some at home. If you tell us what do you plan on doing we can tell you what you are going to need to buy, Melinda.” Rosalie was the first to recover.

“Alice said earlier this week that it was snowing on the mountain. And I have never seen snow before, so I thought about hiking there and maybe even seeing the sunrise our sunset.” The witch explained. It seemed like a simple request.

“You don’t need to buy equipments, we can take you there and bring you back in less than an hour,tha-”

“No Alice, I want to go hiking. I want to experience it like a human would, without powers or cheating. Well maybe cheating a little since hiking all the way there would take to long, so I was thinking of Embry running part of the way, and then we hike the rest of the trail.” Melinda cut her off. She wanted to do this right. 

“Right, well we have camping bags and a tent, from the time Bella was human.” Rosalie seemed to understand that it was more than just a hike to the witch, it meant something to her to do this. “But we don’t have hiking clothes for winter, considering we don’t feel cold. We need to stop at a shop to buy those. I believe there is a The North Face, Patagonia or Columbia close by.”

“Okay, we just have one small stop left here. Barnes & Noble, I did promise Renesmee I would buy her something. And this time, I’ll be the one paying, since it is my gift to her.” And so the three followed the witch towards the bookstore. Once inside the two vampires disappeared, while Melinda and Embry stayed in the children section.

“Melinda, Nessie doesn’t like children books.”

“I know.” The witch answered. “This one she will like. Trust me.” with a book chosen the two met with Alice and Rosalie, payed and left the store and the mall.

Arriving at the car, Alice popped the trunk opened. Embry and Rosalie started to organize all their bags, while Alice turned on the car and the heat. Melinda stood beside her imprinter, trying to help, but every time she streached her hands or opened her mouth they interrupted her and said “It’s okay. We got this, go sit in the car, your feet must me killing you.” or something like that. After a few tries, the witch gave up, she just leaned at the side of the car, waiting for them to finish. Just when they closed the trunk a demon suddenly shimmered behind them, he was about 15 feet away. Rosalie was the first to turn around, followed closely by Alice leaving the car. Once the demon saw them he conjured a fireball and threw it at Rosalie. The blond vampire froze, not used to what was happening, all she knew was that there was a huge ball of fire coming straight at her. What she didn’t know was that if it hit her that would mean her death. 

“Noooo!” It was Melinda’s reflexes that saved her life. Quickly jumping over the now closed trunk and pushed Rosalie to the ground. She had to use a bit of her telekinesis or else the vampire wouldn’t have moved. 

The fireball hit the car instead of the two. And by the time Melinda got her head up, there was another one coming straight at her. She didn’t have time to jump or roll, before Embry threw himself in front of the fireball. Even though it didn’t hurt him, much, the impact still sent him backwards towards the witch. Melinda didn’t think twice before orbing herself and Rosalie out of Embry path. When they reappeared  there was a third fireball coming straight at her, from the corner of her eyes she saw Alice start to move. “ENOUGH!” with her telekinesis she froze both Alice and the fireball. The demon seemed surprised by her reaction. So did Rosalie. With a flick of her wrist she sent the fireball back at the demon, who ducked just in time. When the witch got up the demon tried to shimmer away, but she was faster and blew him up.

Looking down she saw that Rosalie had a stupefied look in her face. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah.” Melinda helped her up, even though it wasn’t necessary. Looking back, she saw that Alice was still in the same position and Embry was unconscious. It seemed she hadn’t just stopped Alice from moving using her telekinesis, she had actually frozen her. With a flick of her wrist the pixie vampire was unfrozen and quickly by her side asking a million questions per mile. 

“I’m okay Alice, this wasn’t the first time a demon attacked me, and defiantly not the last.” She answered before knelling beside Embry. It seemed he wasn’t hurt, just unconscious, most likely because of the blow against the car. “Embry?” She called and calmly shook him. He opened his eyes in surprise and not even a second later was up, looking for the threat. “It’s okay, I vanquished the demon.” She reassured them all. When he realized the threat was gone, he turned to check on her, and just like Alice, he made a million questions. Before even giving her time to answer he gave her a hug. It seamed to calm him down. 

Alice and Rosalie decided the best thing now was to go back home, Melinda tried to argue she wanted to buy the hiking gear, but they said they would buy it at home online, ending the discussion. In the car ride home, Rosalie was on the phone the entire way, talking quietly and really fast with a family member. Alice would keep turning to look at her every 2 minutes. And Embry would only take his eyes of her to look around and access if there was any other threat. 

Melinda choose to ignore them all and keep looking outside the window. 

When they arrived at the Cullens, before the car even stopped Carlisle was there opening Melinda’s door, releasing her seat belt, taking her out of the car and hugging her. Esme was just behind him, waiting for her turn to hug her. Rosalie and Alice where each in their mates arms, reassuring them they were alright.  Bella had her daughter in her arms, and Edward was just behind them. Renesmee was looking straight at Melinda, like Esme, she was also waiting her turn to hug the witch. Jacob had taken Embry to the side, joined by Quill, Seth and Leah, the four were talking to the shape-shifter who was attacked. 

Once Carlisle let go of her, Esme arms  replaced his, and after her, Renesmee, then Bella, Edward, Jasper and Emmett, slowly, each Cullen hugged her. 

“You shouldn’t have jumped in front of Rosalie like that Melinda. You should have allowed them to fight, not you.”

“No. First of all, if it had been a vampire fine they would have fought, but it was a demon. And a demonic fireball or energyball can kill a vampire. So I jumped on top of Rosalie, and stopped Alice. And I would do it again, because that’s my job, to protect you from these type of things. And not only because of that, but also because I care about you guys, and I don’t wan to see you get hurt.” Once she finished her speech they all stayed quiet. Emmett was the first to react, hugging her once more and thanking her for saving his mate. Once he let go, she talked again. “Now, like I told Alice and Rosalie, that wasn’t my first demonic attack and wont be my last. You don’t have to worry so much, because I know what I’m doing. I’ve been doing this as long as I can remember. There’s at least on demonic attack every week in the manor. Okay?” She looked at them waiting for an answer. Slowly each gave her a nod or a smile. 

There was no way they wouldn’t freak out every time a demon attacked or Melinda went demon hunting, but it seemed she had diminished a bit of their worries with her speech. 

**Author's Note:**

> Charmed Ones Children (must are OC)  
> MELINDA WARREN HALLIWELL: 17 years-old  
> Mother: Prue Halliwell  
> Father: Andy Trudeau  
> Kind: Whitelighter/Witch  
> Powers: A lot, during the story most will be told.  
> Played by: Alexandria Daddario
> 
> WYATT MATTHEWS HALLIWELL: 15 years-old  
> Mother: Piper Halliwell  
> Father: Leo Wyatt  
> Kind: Whitelighter/Witch  
> Played by: Ty Simpkins
> 
> CHRISTOPHER PERRY HALLIWELL: 14 years-old  
> Mother: Piper Halliwell  
> Father: Leo Wyatt  
> Kind: Whitelighter/Witch  
> Played by: Jacob Hopkins
> 
> VICTOR ANDREW HALLIWELL: 14 years-old  
> Mother: Piper Halliwell  
> Father: Leo Wyatt  
> Kind: Whitelighter/Witch  
> Played by: Jacob Hopkins
> 
> PRUDENCE PHOEBE HALLIWELL: 12 years-old  
> Mother: Phoebe Halliwell  
> Father: Coop  
> Kind: Cupid/Witch  
> Played by: Nikki Hahn
> 
> PEYTON PIPER HALLIWELL: 11 years-old  
> Mother: Phoebe Halliwell  
> Father: Coop  
> Kind: Cupid/Witch  
> Played by: Ava Acres
> 
> PORTIA PAIGE HALLIWELL: 5 years-old  
> Mother: Phoebe Halliwell  
> Father: Coop  
> Kind: Cupid/Witch  
> Played by: Mia Talerico (Think of her brunet)
> 
> PENELOPE SAM MATTHEWS: 11 years-old  
> Mother: Paige Matthewsl  
> Father: Henry Mitchell  
> Kind: Whitelighter/Witch  
> Played by: Kaitlin Riley
> 
> PATRICIA LILIAN MATTHEWS: 11 years-old  
> Mother: Paige Matthews  
> Father: Henry Mitchell  
> Kind: Whitelighter/Witch  
> Played by: Kaitlin Riley
> 
> HENRY MITCHELL MATTHEWS JUNIOR: 4 years-old  
> Mother: Paige Matthews  
> Father: Henry Mitchell  
> Kind: Whitelighter/Witch  
> Played by: Pierce Gagnon (Think of him younger)


End file.
